TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
481

Road to Mock Meek - Week 4 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
3x275
3x315
5x3x335 - Self hand off, no spotter - RPE 8.5 / 8.5 / 8.5 / 9 / 9.5
2x8x275
7x275 - Maybe could have gotten another 8, but didn’t want to grind without a spot

Seated DB Military Press:
10x65s
10x75s
2x9x75s

Cable Triceps Pushdown:
12x72.5
12x80
12x87.5
12x80

DB Hammer Curl:
3x10/10x50s

Single Arm Machine Reverse Fly:
3x15/15x100

BB Curl:
2x20

I’m happy with this considering the self hand-offs and everything. I haven’t done that over 275 in a long time due to wanting to avoid pec issues. I can feel it when I’m unracking more than at any other point in the lift. But I survived today and I should have my spotter back on my bench days next week.

Usually I would do an overload movement after my comp bench, but I definitely wouldn’t do a self hand-off on those, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else in the gym honestly. The volume sets at 275 worked fine.

Not sure how tomorrow will go with deadlifts. On my second set at 275, my upper hamstring started cramping before I even started the set and then it crept into my hip/glute and then my low back as I finished the set. I can still feel some of that. Hopefully with a good warm up I’ll be fine.

482

Sunday - Road to Mock Meet - Week 4 - Day 5

Deadlift w/ Belt - Straps:
3x405
3x455
2x495 - Man I suck at deadlift now
2x495 - Add straps here, fuck this
4x5x455 - Apparently I just can’t deadlift with these bars at this gym.

Beltless High Bar Paused Squat:
5x5x315

Incline DB Row:
4x10x100s - Focus on rowing back to hit lower lats more than upper back

Hyperextension:
4x10 @ BW+90

RKC Planks:
3x5 @ 0:10 on / 0:03 off

Definitely not happy with this one. I really can’t tell if I just got really bad at deadlifting once I got to this gym or if the bars there really are so stiff and slippery that it’s impossible to deadlift well. Hoping it’s the latter, but I may need to bump the deadlift frequency down to 2 days per week and see if I recover better. This absolutely wrecked my lower back due to the form breakdown.

Squats felt okay considering the back fatigue though. Left knee is still feeling somewhat weird sometimes. Focusing on form though.

483

Road to Mock Meet - Week 5 - Day 1 - Deloading

High Bar Squat w/ Belt:
5x3x405 - Added belt on 2nd set. Yeah, another 5x3 due to knee pain and back fatigue from Sunday’s deadlifts.

Incline Bench:
4x10x185

Lat Pulldown:
4x8x180

Hack Squat Machine - Reverse:
3x8 @ 4pps
8 @ 3pps - I can move more weight than facing forward, but it’s still too much on my knees.

Standing Single Leg Curl:
4x10/10x50

Well I’m deloading because I’ve been feeling like so much garbage. Definitely thoroughly deloading the squat and deadlift specifically. I’ll probably do each of those once this week honestly and do a lot of bodybuilding work otherwise. I need my knees to feel better mostly. I’m also getting a massage done on Friday evening.

Now for a bigger change. I talked to my friend that is a strength coach and he is going to be doing my programming for a while, at least leading up to my next meet in October. I’ve never had a coach before, I’ve always done my own programming, but I realized that I’m in a phase where I’m too frustrated with lifting and I want to get back to enjoying it. I trust that he will put together a good program and I will be able to just focus on performance. He said we can fit the mock meet in still, but I’m not sure if it will be at the previously planned time (July 25ish).

484

Road to Mock Meet - Week 5 - Day 2 - Deload

Paused Bench:
3x275
3x315
2x335
2x355
5x1x365 - Pretty easy, super explosive off the chest. Sticking point is still near lockout.
2x10x275 - TnG

Unilateral Cable Low Row:
12x160
4x10x200

Cable Triceps Pushdown:
4x12x80

Incline DB Fly:
3x12x30s

Preacher DB Curl:
3x15x15s - Squeezing ends of DBs together. Makes for a very good contraction.

Deload week apparently involves working up to 90% on bench. I haven’t gone that heavy since April 16 when I hit a 385 paused close grip rep. I’ve been doing most of my work between 275 and 335 since then. But today I felt pretty explosive, so I decided to go up to a decent weight and I got to 90% for some singles. Really need to get more weight in my hands more often.

I skipped my deadlift that I would usually do on this day and kept the rest of the workout easy. I’ll deadlift on Friday instead of squat and then do bench again Saturday to round out the week. No 5th day. Very much a deload.

485

Saturday - Road to Mock Meet - Week 5 - Day 3 - Deload

Beltless Deadlift - Okie Bar:
8x3x405

T-Bar Row - Neutral Grip:
8x135
8x180
8x225 - 5 plates - PR, but too much upper back rounding
3x8x205 - 4.5 plates - PR, held form much better

A1 | Lying Hamstring Curl:
3x20x80 - Elbow cuffs on knees. See below.

A2 | Leg Extension:
3x20x55 - Elbow cuffs stayed on.

For the curls/extensions, I put my elbow cuffs right above knees for traction on the VMOs. They were very tight, but I kept them on for the first 2 sets without removing them at all and then the tendons on the back of my knees started giving up, so the 3rd set was done without them. When I was done, there was no knee pain, so I’m thinking that the VMOs are the issue and that I need to keep rolling them out and using this traction. It would make sense considering my left VMO would strain or cramp up every time I did cardio for the past few weeks.

Deadlift went pretty well I guess, at that point my knees were hurting, so I couldn’t really squat down to get leg drive. The Okie bar is still an issue, but I’m going to keep working on it obviously.

T-Bar rows went very well. 5 plates was a bit much and it felt like the bar was going to slide out of the landmine attachment. Not sure if that’s just a physics thing with the weight distribution or if I just need to get stronger to control it more.

486

Saturday - Road to Mock Meet - Week 5 - Day 4 - Deload

Paused Bench w/ Chain (+75) - Slightly Wide Grip:
5x5x275+75 - PR! Previously had done 4x3 and then a 6 @ 10 on an AMRAP. So 18 reps in 5 sets went to 25 reps.

TnG Bench:
20x225 - +3 rep PR! This was done about a minute after my last chain set.

Incline DB Press:
12x90s
3x10x110s

Lat Pulldown - Neutral:
2x8x180
8x200
8x200 + 8x160

Preacher DB Curl:
4x12x20s - Squeezing ends of DBs together.

A1 | Machine Dips:
15x170
2x15x190

A2 | Machine Lateral Raise:
15x90
2x15x100

Seems like it’s been a while since I could say it, but benching has been going really well this week. I crushed this 5x5 without any issues. You can see on the video below that the speed remained pretty much the same (1st and 4th sets filmed). I used a wider grip than normal by less than an inch probably, but my groove was on point the whole time. That could be either the chains helping with tracking or the grip, or both. Either way, my pecs felt good and I’ll probably try it again with straight weight.

Then 20 reps at 225 happened. If I remember correctly, I blew through 17, my previous PR, without resting at the top. My triceps quickly gave out a few reps later. Would be interested in seeing what I could get fresh.

This is the end of the deload. Talking to my new coach, we’re going to drop my squat frequency down to 2 days again until my knees feel better. We’re also dropping intensity back down to begin a new volume phase for about 4 weeks. I haven’t received the programming yet, but it will begin on Tuesday.

487

Cornerstone Training - Week 1 - Day 1

Beltless High Bar Squat:
5x345
5x365
5x395 @ RPE 8 - Initial set
5x335 - 85% of initial
5x355 - 90%
5x375 - 95%
5x335
5x355
5x375

Beltless Paused Deadlift:
3x315
3x405
5x5x430 - Brutal. PR

Pull-Ups - Straps:
11, 9, 8, 8, 4 - 40 reps in as few sets as possible, each at RPE 8 except for the last set

Leg Extension:
4x10x120

Ab Wheel Roll-Outs:
4x10xBW

So this was my first day training under my friend, owner of Cornerstone Training and Nutrition. It’s going to be interesting being trained by someone else, since I’ve literally never been close to doing that. I’m very much looking forward to it since it will be a collaborative effort, but I’ll also not have to stress about anything but lifting and recovery.

I’ve never heard of doing an initial set and then doing two waves after that, but it was really interesting to try it. Good way to get a bunch of volume in without killing myself with intensity. My knees were struggling a good bit until the second wave unfortunately, but I pushed through it. Hopefully not stupidly. I also hit the unmovable safety pins on a couple of reps and made the set harder, but it is what it is.

I thought my spreadsheet said 460 for a 5x5 on paused deadlifts, thankfully I double-checked because I wouldn’t have survived that today. I’m proud of my grip strength though, absolutely no issues there. My back wasn’t in the best position on the last couple of reps on each set, but I still felt tight.

488

Cornerstone Training - Week 1 - Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
5x255
4x8x255+40 @ RPE 8ish each

Standing Overhead Press (aka Military Press, just going to call it OHP from now on):
5x165
5x185 @ RPE 8 - Initial set, same waves as squats yesterday
5x155
5x165
5x175
5x155
5x165
5x175

Paused DB Bench:
10x100s
3x10x110s @ RPE 7

Seated DB Overhead Press:
3x8x60s - May have been able to push myself harder on this, but pushing was getting exhausting

HS Iso-Row:
8x360
8x380
2x8x360

Cable Low Row - Neutral:
4x10x180

Cable Rope Curls:
3x8x62.5

Well this was a bit ridiculous. 223 working reps. I feel like a bodybuilder or something. Obviously the idea here was to get in a lot of submax volume and that I did. Bench with chains was pretty easy, but felt like the right weight considering the rest of the workout. Pecs are feeling very good, I think in large part due to a warm up posted on Chicago Powerlifting’s site. Not sure if I can direct link, but it’s that name plus .com and then the article called “How We Prep” Bench Press Warm Up - Part 1. I haven’t tried Part 2 yet, but the band work in Part 1 has really helped me so far, I think.

I’m getting a lot more explosive with my overhead pressing than I used to be. I suppose that’s a good thing.

The rest of the workout was obviously accessory work, but there was a ton of important volume in there too. My lats and back were already sore coming into this, so the 72 reps of rowing today probably won’t feel great tomorrow.

489

The weekend was pretty busy, so I didn’t have time to write the logs. Here are the last 3 days.

Friday - Cornerstone Training - Week 1 - Day 3

Squat w/ Belt:
6x4x430 - Knees were absolutely not okay with this. Had to change my form a lot to avoid pain. Lots of leaning. Last set was supposed to be an AMRAP @ RPE 8.

Beltless Deadlift w/ Chains:
8x1x420+40 - 45 seconds rest

Hip Thrusts w/ 1 Sec Hold:
3x10x315

One-Arm DB Row:
4x8/8x150 - Straps

Lying Leg Curl:
3x12x125

Cable Pallof Press:
3x10/10x65

Knees are not holding up well currently. May need to take bigger steps back in training and forward in recovery if I want this to go away soon. Slightly pulled something in my mid-back during one of the sets, must have attached to the ribs because it was somewhat painful to breathe after that.

Saturday - Cornerstone Training - Week 1 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
5x4x325
7x325 @ 9 - Benchmark PR. Was supposed to go to RPE 8. Would have been if I hadn’t misgrooved the last rep at the top.

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
3x5x285

Standing OHP:
10x135
10x155 @ 8
8x155
10x135

DB Lateral Raise:
3x12x35s

Triceps Pushdown:
4x12x65

EZ Bar Preacher Curl:
4x12x60

I’m very happy with how bench has been going recently. Moved 325 like it was speed work for the majority of the reps. The back strain from yesterday affected my arch and stability slightly, but wasn’t awful.

Sunday - Cornerstone Training - Week 1 - Day 5

Deadlift w/ Belt:
5x3x490

Leg Press:
3x10x450 (5 pps) - Knees didn’t enjoy this

Pendlay Row:
4x6x295 - No straps! PR for that

Lat Pulldown - Wide Neutral:
2x10x160
2x10x180

Cable Facepull:
4x12x65

“Free Motion” Ab Pulldown:
3x12x110

I’m proud of myself for not using straps at any point during this workout. Grip seemed to hold up nicely during the deadlifts despite the shitty bar and the Pendlay rows weren’t that bad either. I think I figured out today that I need to get back my anger during deadlifts. Since I’ve moved to this gym, I haven’t been very aggressive with them, so it’s felt slow and terrible. Today I let myself grip and rip the bar. Form wasn’t any worse and it moved a lot faster. Not that my form is good, but I have to get better at pulling at some point at this gym.

490

Cornerstone Training - Week 2 - Day 1

No squats today due to knees. Made the decision last night. Working hard on recovery techniques though.

Beltless Paused Deadlift:
3x315
3x365
5x5x430 - Last week this was a very difficult PR. This week it was a lot easier and my form was much better. Obviously not being fatigued from squats helps, but still. Also held the last rep for 10 seconds.

Good Morning:
6x225
3x6x245 - I’m not good at these. lol

Pull-Ups - Straps:
12, 8, 10, 10 - 40 reps in as few sets as possible, each at RPE 8, other than last set at RPE 9.5.

Leg Extension - Occlusion/Blood Flow Restriction:
30, 15, 15, 30 x 60 - Wraps remain on entire time, 30 seconds rest between sets

Ab Wheel Roll-Outs:
4x10 @ BW

Knee pain hasn’t been getting any better, probably even gotten worse actually. I spent a good amount of time last night using a floss band on both knees and using The Stick, but we decided to skip the squats today. Need to be healthy if I want to get stronger and pushing through the pain won’t get me anywhere. Ace bandage compression and NSAIDs today and tonight.

I’m happy with this workout honestly. Without the stress of squatting pain, it was easier to get into the rest of the lifts. I’m hitting a pretty good groove with the paused deadlifts and they’re teaching me how to use my lats better.

Occlusion training for leg extensions was to avoid the shear stress on the knees and obviously to promote a lot of blood flow to the quads/knees. It worked really well from what I could tell.

491

Cornerstone Training - Week 2 - Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
4x8x260+40 - RPE 7 on first set, 8-8.5 on remaining. +5 lbs over last week.

Standing Overhead Press:
5x165
5x185 @ 8 - Initial set. Same as last week.
5x155
5x165
5x175
5x155
5x165
5x175

Paused DB Bench:
10x110s
2x10x115s

Seated DB Overhead Press:
8x65s
3x8x70s

HS Iso-Row:
8x360
2x8x380
8x360

Cable Low Row - Wide Neutral:
10x180
2x10x200
10x180

EZ Bar Curls:
3x10x100

Here’s that damn bodybuilding-esque day again. This actually went really well despite it being exhausting. I was able to add weight to every exercise other than OHP. The bench with chains moved very quickly on the first and second sets and then slowed down a bit on the last two.

Still working on the knees and they seem to be getting better, but I’m not sure if I’ll squat on Friday anyway. I want to get completely better so that I can actually get some work done when I come back.

492

Friday - Cornerstone Training - Week 2 - Day 3

Still no squats tonight to let the knees get better.

Beltless Deadlift w/ Chains:
8x1x435+40 - 45 seconds rest - Up 15 lbs in bar weight from last week

Hip Thrusts w/ 1 Sec Hold:
10x315
2x10x335
10x315

One-Arm DB Row - Straps:
4x8/8x150

Lying Leg Curl:
12x125
2x12x140

Cable Pallof Press w/ 3 Ct. Hold:
3x10/10x52.5

Knees are getting better I think, but I knew if I tried to squat tonight it would have been a step back, not forward. Gotta be smart to stay in it for the long run.

Deadlifts felt good today. All of them moved pretty fast, but my last rep was my most explosive by far. Next week is another 15 lb jump on those, so I’m guessing it’ll get pretty tough then.

The rest of the workout was pretty unremarkable other than hip thrusts killing my hamstrings and low back. I think I can feel it in my glutes a little bit.

493

Cornerstone Training - Week 2 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
5x4x325 - Same weight as last week. See reason below.
6x325 @ 8

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
3x5x295 - 10 lbs over last week

Standing Overhead Press:
10x135 @ 7
2x10x145 @ 8/8.5
10x135 @ 8

DB Lateral Raise:
3x12x35s

Cable Triceps Pushdown:
4x12x80

DB Hammer Curls:
3x12x60s

So I needed to help my dad clear out a bunch of brush and vines for a fence line. That took 2 hours and it was hot as hell, so I was completely soaked and fatigued. I drove straight from there to the gym after changing. I’m sure I was dehydrated a good bit, so I decided to stick with 325 again for bench. I’m glad I did, because I was getting pretty fatigued by the end of the 6 sets. My pec was feeling a little iffy anyway, which could have to do with the dehydration.

3 ct. pauses moved really well though. Only 30 lbs under the previous sets, but much longer pause, you’d think it wouldn’t be that much easier.

494

Cornerstone Training - Week 2 - Day 5

Deadlift w/ Belt:
5x3x500 - 10 lbs. over last week. Last set was the best due to rage.

Pendlay Row - Straps:
4x6x315 - No straps on first set, gotta build that grip though

Squat - Flat Shoes/Beltless:
3x10x135

Lat Pulldown:
4x10x180

Cable Facepull:
4x12x65

Free Motion Ab Pulldown:
3x12x120

Cardio - Battling Ropes:
5 rounds of 3 x 0:10/0:10 on/off - 1 minute rest between rounds

I’m mostly happy with how this went. The bar I used for pulling wasn’t the best and my left hand (over hand) was slipping on a couple of the 3rd reps, but I held it at the top to make sure I wasn’t actually losing it. The weight itself felt pretty heavy honestly, but apparently it looked pretty consistent other than the last set which was about twice as fast.

I only squatted to test out the knees and it replaced leg press since that hurt my knees anyway. It wasn’t too bad, but I still had/have some pain. Felt like maybe a 3/10 on a pain scale, down from probably a 7 or 8 last week. Not sure how long I’ll need, but I’m sticking with my recovery techniques.

That cardio killed me. I’m hoping it’s okay on my shoulders to use it a little more often, because it’s a lot easier to bust that out for 8 minutes than to get on any lower body cardio equipment. Especially with my knees not liking them.

495

Cornerstone Training - Week 3 - Day 1

Beltless Squat - Flat Shoes:
3x8x225 - Pretty significant knee pain still.

Beltless Paused Deadlift:
3x365
3x405
2x5x445 - 15 lb 5RM PR!
3x5x435 - Volume PR over the 5x5x430 from the previous 2 weeks.

Pull-Ups - Straps:
12, 10, 8, 10 - 40 reps in as few sets as possible, each at RPE 8 except for the last set

Leg Extension - Occlusion/Blood Flow Restriction:
30, 15, 15, 30 x 80 - Wraps remain on entire time, 30 seconds rest between sets

Cable Pallof Press:
3x10/10x42.5 - Accidentally did these instead of my anti-extension movement, will sub later this week.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pause deadlift 445 for a single set of 5 honestly, but I really did very well with it. I have the video of the first set below and I think this may have been the best my spine has ever looked during any deadlift over 405. Definitely very happy with this obviously. I dropped to 435 after the second set because I would have been able to finish another 3 sets with 445 with good form. The last set at 435 I absolutely destroyed. I like saving my aggression for the last set, it makes me feel good to finish an exercise on a powerful note.

You can probably guess that I’m not happy with the squats, but I can’t worry about it too much right now. The plan is to keep up with the recovery techniques and keep volume super low or at zero and just hammer away at bench and deadlift. If those two can go up, I’ll be okay mentally about the knees.

496

Cornerstone Training - Week 3 - Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
4x8x265+40 - RPE 8 on first set, got pretty rough on the last set. +5 lbs over last week.

Standing Overhead Press:
5x165
5x185 @ 8 - Initial set. Same as last 2 weeks unfortunately.
5x155
5x165
5x175
5x155
5x165
5x175

Paused DB Bench:
10x95s
3x10x120s - Sets went RPE 7, 8, 9. Technically PR over last week though, since I haven’t really trained these paused.

Seated DB Overhead Press:
3x8x70s - RPE 7

Standing HS Iso-Row:
4x8x360 - RPE 8 - Never tried over 180 standing, this lit up my entire back from my pelvis to my neck.

Cable Low Row - Neutral:
10x180
4x10x220 - RPE 8

Preacher DB Squeeze Curl:
10x20s
2x10x25s

Another brutal Wednesday has been completed. I’ve gotten a decent groove with this day, but damn it’s a lot of volume when trying to add weight where I can. Pecs were feeling pretty stiff today, but they were okay under the bar. Need to work on them more than just right before the lifting though.

The bench with chains moved pretty well for the first couple of sets, but then I was getting pretty fatigued by the end of it. The bar was all over the place laterally on the last set.

I’m not surprised by the OHP since I’m adding weight to the bench each week. I’m sure it would go up if it was the first exercise of the day.

I haven’t benched the 120s in a long time. My best TnG was a set of 10x130s back in December 2013, so I think today was better considering the pausing and volume.

497

Friday - Cornerstone Training - Week 3 - Day 3

Beltless Deadlift w/ Chain (+40):
8x1x450+40 - 45 seconds rest - Up 15 more lbs over last week

Hip Thrusts w/ 1 Sec Hold:
3x10x315 - This difficultly was more determined by if my hamstrings were going to cramp

Incline DB Row w/ 1 Sec Hold - Straps:
4x8x115s

Lying Leg Curl:
3x12x110

Ab Wheel:
3x10xBW

Still no squatting obviously and unfortunately. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll be back.

Speed pulls went really well today. I thought this weight was going to make me lose my form after a few reps, but I held together nicely and ended up making the last rep the fastest.

Saturday - Cornerstone Training - Week 3 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
5x4x330
6x330 @ 9 - Benchmark PR. I assume all of this was a volume PR too. I couldn’t really use any leg drive because of my knees either.

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
3x5x300 - I was dying by this point without leg drive. Very rough on the pecs, but no pain!

Standing OHP:
3x10x145 @ 8

DB Lateral Raise:
3x12x40s

Seated DB Curl:
4x12x40s

Triceps Pushdown:
4x12x95

I’m happy with how bench has been feeling recently, I seem to be in a lot more control than I have been before. Hopefully this will help translate into something big soon.

I want to note that my ribs are taking a pretty big beating on the 3 ct. pauses after all that other volume. I can barely sit up after each set. Need to figure out how to not let it sink, but that could put a lot of strain on my front delts.

Sunday - Cornerstone Training - Week 3 - Day 5

Note: So I was warming up with a 15-20 lb kettlebell, just doing goblet squats and a couple swings. One of the times I stood up though, I pulled/strained/somethinged something in my mid back. I didn’t stand up some weird way, it was just ready to fuck me. It’s right around the lower traps area and it immediately made it very painful to breathe into my chest because it’s pulling on my ribs and the pain wraps around the front. That put a huuuge damper on this workout obviously. But I tried to deal with it.

Deadlift w/ Belt:
3x3x505 - Added straps from 3rd set forward to avoid a callous tear. Didn’t have the ability to be explosive due to the bullshit above, so I dropped the weight. Originally was supposed to do 5x3x505.
3x3x475

Pendlay Row - No Straps:
4x6x275

Paused Squat - Flat Shoes/Beltless:
7x5x135 - Still painful, but not terrible.

Lat Pulldown:
4x10x180

Cable Facepull:
4x12x65

Incline Straight Leg Raise:
3x10

The shit that hurts you sometimes is just unlucky. This is certainly one of those times.

Deadlift wasn’t really painful, I just had to be very slow and deliberate, which made the lifts very difficult. Apparently my form still held together pretty well though, so that’s good.

I’m not sure what the plan is going into week 4, but I’m hoping that this back thing will go away by Tuesday and my knees will miraculously get better soon.

498

Cornerstone Training - Week 4 - Day 1 - Deload

Beltless Paused Deadlift:
3x365
3x405
3x5x445 - +1 set PR

Beltless Squat - Flat Shoes:
3x10x135 - Knees = Meh

Pull-Ups - Straps:
10, 10, 10, 10 - 40 reps in as few sets as possible, each at RPE 8. Surprisingly consistent on this today.

Goblet Squat - Occlusion / Blood Flow Restriction:
4x15x44 - 30 seconds rest

RKC Planks:
3x5x10/5 seconds on/off

Looks like the way I’ll be deloading is to keep the intensity somewhat high and just knock off a set or two to decrease the volume. I’ll be honest, I’m terrible at knowing how to deload properly, so it’s nice having someone control that for me.

Paused deadlift felt great again. I wasn’t tight enough on a couple of the reps, but for the most part I was pretty solid.

Goblet squats felt good in the place of leg extensions, so maybe we’ll use this instead. My knees didn’t hurt at all while doing these relative to the barbell squats at 135 either.

Edit: Oh, two more things: I set up a massage for Friday and I’m going to have him focus on my knees. And my little bullshit injury thing in my back has mostly gone away with some stretches and foam rolling. I can still get it to hurt in some weird positions, but I’m fine.

499

Cornerstone Training - Week 4 - Day 2 - Deload

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
3x8x255+40 - Pretty easy but shoulders were tight so it felt like my delts were doing all the work.

Standing Overhead Press:
5x165
5x195 @ RPE 8.5 - +10 lbs on the initial finally, though 0.5 RPE up - Also benchmark PR
5x165
5x175
2x5x185

Paused DB Bench:
3x10x240 - All RPE 7 this week. Last was 7, 8, and 9

Seated DB Overhead Press:
3x8x75s - RPE 7 - These are getting easier

HS D.Y. Row / Low Row:
3x10x270

EZ Bar Curl:
3x10x100

This was a lot easier than the previous 3 weeks of Wednesdays, it’s amazing what can change with a few fewer sets. I definitely felt like I needed the deload though, since I was so tight during bench. An increase from last week would have been too much probably.

Not much to say otherwise, so I’ll leave it at that.

500

Cornerstone Training - Week 4 - Day 3 - Deload

Beltless Squat - Wide Stance - Oly Shoes:
6x4x275 - First time squatting 275 in about 3 weeks. Went with a near Layne Norton style squat to avoid knee pain. It worked pretty well, but I’m definitely not strong there.

Beltless Deadlift w/ Chains (+40):
5x1x425+40 - 45 seconds rest.

DB Stair Lunges (Like…actually walk up stairs, skipping a step):
3x7/7 @ BW+55s - Stairs here allow for 7 lunges up, then I walked back down and did it again for one set.

Incline DB Row w/ 1 Sec Hold - Straps:
3x10x100s

Lying Leg Curl:
3x12x125

Cable Pallof Press - 3 Ct. Hold:
3x10/10x52.5

Squats weren’t the worst thing ever, but I’m guessing I won’t be able to squat much weight with this stance. Hopefully the massage I had today will help with the recovery. It was ridiculously painful because my quads are so tight.

I’m so glad I’m deloading this week, because these speed pulls were pretty far from speedy. I only had to do 5 reps total and they were all slower than any of the pulls with chains I had done in the past 3 weeks. Plus my lower back felt like shit for some reason. Could have been the squats right before, since I’m not used to it now.

I liked the stair lunges, which replaced hip thrusts today,though I will probably need to use more weight. They felt fine on the knees though.